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"Lucifer, I swear if you get out of that bed!"
"But Detective!"
"No!" She reprimanded, "You got shot. Several inches to the right and..." She gulped, afraid at the prospect of losing him after everything they'd been through together.
"I'm the devil, darling." He sighed, "Really now... You've already insisted on leaving me so that it could heal. This is beyond unnecessary."
"Lucifer." She warned, coming back into the room, "You're... It's better now, right? Should I leave again?"
"No!" Lucifer exclaimed, "Don't go!"
Chloe observed him, unsure of what to think.
He curled up in their bed, buried under several blankets, yet still managing to shiver occasioanlly. Her boyfriend was pale, sweaty, and bit... away. He was there, annoying and sassing her, but he also wasn't. Something was on his mind.
She studied his horror filled eyes, feeling guilty for leaving him to wake up alone in the hospital. He'd thought she'd died. When Linda managed to get through to him and calm him down enough to understand that she was still alive, Lucifer quickly reached the conclusion that she'd abandoned him. Again.
"So, she's left then, eh?" His lips wobbled, eyes wide and horrified, "She'd finally had enough of me and left? What did I do now, Doctor? How do I manage to make everyone leave me?"
Linda had said that convincing him that Chloe hadn't left him, in the sense that he was imagining at least, had taken some time.
"Lucifer, we've been over this." She'd told him on the drive here, "I can't just let you suffer. You need to heal."
"But, I though you left." He whispered, quiet and dejected, still not over whatever emotions his panic had cultivated.
"Well, I'm never going to leave you, babe." She promised, wishing she could scoot over and hug him. Perhaps she ought to strangle him too?
Lucifer said nothing, eyes wet and lips pressed into a thin line.
It was like he didn't trust her!
While their relationship was relatively new and there was quite the... interesting history between the two of them, Chloe couldn't help but worry about that. Lucifer was complicated. That was the understandment of the millenium. Throughout the years, she learned to see past the confident, charming, sex-on-a-stick Lucifer Morningstar. She could now see the man hurt beyond reason, the man who spent so long unloved that he forgot what it's like to love and be loved, the man who everyone always either used or abandoned...
He was no man though.
He was the devil. (also an angel)
If anything, it just made her love him more. How could she convince him of that? It was like he thought that she didn't care.
Lucifer's eyes were still on her, waiting. Was he waiting for her to kick him out? To leave? To abandon him too?
"Come here." She sighed, dropping into the bed to cuddle into his side. She wrapped him up in her embrace, careful of the bandages and gauze circling his chest. Lucifer came willingly, allowing her to guide him so that his face was buried in the crook of her neck, his body moulded against hers.
"Is this position uncomfortable to you?" She whispered into his hair. (curly at the moment)
"No." He whispered back, shaking his head against her chest, "Heavenly." He blanched at the word, almost as if he just realize what he'd said, "Well, uh, you know..."
She chuckled, feeling him smile as well.
"I'm serious though." Chloe told him, stroking his back and toying with the short hairs at the nape of his neck, "Do I need to leave for you to heal better? You're not above lying to Linda."
"I do not lie!" He huffed.
"I guess it doesn't count as lying if you believe it yourself."
"Detective!"
She pressed a kiss to the crown of his head, shushing him.
"Just let me take care of you, please." She gulped.
"I'm fine, Detective." He assured her, a long-suffering huff accenting his words, "I just..."
"Lucifer, you nearly passed out going up the stairs." She grumbled, smacking the side of his head lightly as if to remind him before leaning down and kissing the same spot.
"That's just... after effects. Of healing. Just a bit knackered, 's all."
"Lucifer..." Chloe sighed again, hugging him closer.
"It's true!"
"I'll have to sit Amenadiel down and have him go over every detail of celestial healing." She mused.
"Wouldn't work." Lucifer guessed, "It's hardly uniform between all angels. In addition to that, the entire vulnerability debacle... All bets are off when it comes to you, my love."
She still felt horrible about that, mind you. A part of her wondered why he didn't just leave. Get as far away from her to protect himself if not for anything else. Of course, she knew the reason and she worked really hard to not cry every time she remembered it.
Like now for instance.
How could she convince him that she'd do the same for him? How could she convince him that he was more than worth it? How could she make him understand that she was his as much as he was hers?
"Okay, look, I'll believe that you're like 60% healed and-"
"More like 99%." He cut in, "Despite how tempting 69% is as a number to give."
"Lucifer." She sighed in exasperation. Why couldn't he take anything seriously? "99% healed. Fine sure. Tell you what, 99.9 % healed devil. Just let me take care of you."
"Why?"
"Because I love you, you dumbass." She verified that with a firm kiss to his temple, "People who love each other take care of each other when one is injured or sick. Your 69 or 99 or 99.9% or whatever isn't good enough. We'll work to get you back to a hundred and then some more if that's possible."
"Detective..." He whispered, "Chloe..."
He pulled away from her to gaze into her eyes. She studied his brown eyes, intense and shiny, billions of years worth of experiences swirling around in their depths. She could almost directly observe the overflow of emotions battling within his head as they were reflected in his eyes. A tear rolled down his cheek, lonely and silent.
Were they always this sappy? Why did most of their serious conversations include tears? The banter was still on of course. The endless flirting. All the annoying things her partner said... But, there were these moments too. Moments when it felt like everything they'd been through together just hit them at once, leading to all manners of teary confessions and promises.
He was giving her the saddest smile she'd ever seen, the wonder and pure love revealed within every line of his face making him look like a masterpiece. Not that that was unusual for him of course.
Her hand, still at the back of his neck, urged him a bit closer. Their lips met. Eyes closed, she savoured him, trying to make him understand everything her words couldn't get through his thick devil skull and whatever walls eons of abuse and neglect and loneliness had built around his heart.
Lucifer wasn't lying when he returned her promise to let down his walls. It was just that sometimes, the walls we built were there without our knowledge or consent. Sometimes, when you're hurt bad enough, you make yourself a place to hide without even surrendering to the idea that you need to hide in the first place.
She saw that in him. Every day. Hidden behind every smile and every poorly-timed joke. She'd break them down for him though, or teach him to step outside them when he was with her at the very least.
"Let me take care of you, babe?" Chloe asked as their foreheads pressed together, almost a reflex after all this time, "Please?"
Lucifer gulped and nodded, a soft smile on his lips.
"I love you." Lucifer whispered, "So, so much."
He'd really come far, hadn't he?
"And I love you too. More actually. More than you could ever know, mister."
Wow. Her life was straight out of some cheesy chick flick, huh? All the lovey-dovey talk. All the kissing and the casual touching and the million different ways in which their love for each other manifested.
She wouldn't have it any other way.
*cries in Deckerstar*
"And here's your tea, Lucifer." Chloe smiled, handing him his favourite mug. (a bright engine-red one with small devil horns on either side and the worlds "BEST STEP-SATAN EVER" emblazoned on it in black- courtesy of Trixie)
There he was, the retired King of Hell, snug underneath a blanket, looking a bit tired but jovial nonetheless. He had been about to fall asleep. She almost felt guilty for waking him up by calling out from the hallway. Then again, she'd had no idea that he'd been asleep.
"Is it interesting?"
"Interesting as in spiked with dubious amounts of alcohol?" She wondered, unable to keep the stupid teasing grin off her lips.
Lucifer nodded eagerly and she giggled, nodding back. He took the mug from her hands, fingers curling around it.
Occasionally, she'd fret over how unhealthy the whole thing was. Most of time she remember that he was the devil though; it was mostly about the taste for him. The alcohol couldn't harm him like it would a human. Not easily anyways. She didn't have to worry about this.
"Your favourite." She smiled, settling down next to him.
"Two of my favourites." Lucifer corrected, grinning, lifting his arm so that she could snuggle into his side. She brought the blanket up to her chest, watching him stare at the soup on the tray on his lap. She'd just brought it in, hot and spicey, just like she knew he loved it.
"Not hungry?"
"I... The prospect of food, even soup as it was, doesn't seem all that appealing anymore." He looked embarrassed. So, that was the Luciferian for "I'm feeling a bit nauseous, darling."
Who would've guessed? She'd have to recall it for future reference.
"That's alright." She assured him, rubbing her thumb over his cheekbone, smiling as she cupped his face in her hand.
She moved the tray to the nightstand before settling back next to him. Lucifer was holding the mug in one hand, taking comfort from its scorching heat. He wrapped the other around her. Tea would be alright then. For now. She'd feed him extra tomorrow.
"Is the movie ready?" He questioned, brightening up even more at her nod.
"Are we really going to watch one of your silly Weaponizer movies?"
"Well, of course!" He scoffed, "The fact that you haven't seen them all is appalling, Detective! Even Daniel has. Daniel! One of his few redeeming qualities."
She chuckled at that, relaxing into her boyfriend's chest. Happiness surged within her, feeling him relax more and more.
"You said I get to pick whatever movie I desired." Lucifer reminded her, "And you already vetoed Hot Tub Highschool, Detective, the best cinematic masterpiece of all time."
"Lucifer..."
"Well, I have the real thing now, so I suppose that there would be no need-"
"Lucifer!" She exclaimed, wanting to scold him or something but failing tremendously and succumbing into laughter instead. Lucifer watched her laugh, grinning, pleased with himself.
"It'll always be my favourite." He informed her, smirking. She just laughed harder, shaking her head.
"Thank you for this, Detective." He smiled again, her favourite genuine smile of his, "It's nice and warm."
"It's the least of what you deserve." She whispered, pressing a kiss to his bare chest, a few inches away from where the -supposedly- healed wound was.
Lucifer sighed in bliss.
He wasn't showing any signs of genuine hurt. Of course, he could be pretending, but Chloe was almost certain that she left for long enough to allow him to heal from most of the damage. It didn't mean that he wasn't tired though.
The movie began. She focused more on Lucifer watching, on his voice rumbling through his chest as he laughed, explained something, yelled at a character, or made attempts at puns and innuendos. He would stop to sip at his tea or to relish in the times she would just press a kiss to random location or hug him just a bit tighter. In short, he stopped a lot, basking in her affection.
They managed to get through about half an hour of the movie before Lucifer's comments became scarce.
"He almost broke his leg doing that stunt, Detective." He whispered, yawning, slumped into her shoulder, "And... and you'll never guess what happened next..."
Another ten minutes found the mug on the nightstand and a slumbering devil in her lap.
She wasn't exactly sure how or when they'd shifted positions this drastically. It just... happened. Gradual and slow. Lucifer looked comfortable enough, so she let him be.
Chloe ran her fingers through his hair and traced nonsensical patterns on his skin, watching people die and explode and engage in all manners of cliched action movie shenanigans on the TV screen. They were just background noise to her thoughts though.
She stared at the devil snuffling and snoring in her lap, a ridiculously fond smile on her face.
Tomorrow, she'd go back to rolling her eyes at him and struggling with different aspects of his Luciferness as they tried to navigate this newfound relationship of theirs. Tonight, however, she was too busy trying to show him how loved ones cared for each other to do anything more than drop tender kisses on his skin and whisper words of comfort to sooth his slumber.